Kel-Tec P32

If you cannot carry a gun, then this is not a bad option. I have had one of these clipped in the top of my sock, the top of my underwear, and in my wallet on a few occasions. These are Rule One guns. Always have a gun. I don’t regard them as a real defensive firearm, they are the last ditch solution if I cannot get a real gun hidden on me…or even a J-Frame.

Every time I complain about the sights on my old 642 or my Colt 1911 WWI Repro, I should just take another look at these on this Kel-Tec P32. I got my first one of these when they were brand new in 1999 or 2000. It wasn’t something I really wanted but it was one of those things that I just needed from time to time.

When the P3AT came out, I immediately up-gunned to that and then got rid of it, right away. It was not as accurate, had way more recoil, and lost a round of capacity for not much, if any, gain in penetration.

You cannot run hollow points in these little .32s. They will rim lock. I am not sure why you would want too, since if they did expand, they would likely not get deep enough to do anything useful. These are really eye socket, ear hole, and under the chin kind of guns for counter robbery defense. Once you learn where they hit (and if you can remember to aim off) then they are pretty accurate out to 15 yards or more.

These have made a resurgence lately, along with .32 in small revolvers (and .22 for that matter). Going down in size means the gun generates more felt recoil. Going down in caliber commensurate with size makes sense to make the gun more controllable. This might especially be necessary for the infirm and arthritic hands.

We know that pistol bullets poke holes and little else. The bigger the hole, the better. Placement and penetration are more important than how wide the hole is, so we have to make some compromises to get what we need.

I had so much fun shooting at steel targets that I used up all but 8 rounds before I remembered to take some pictures. I shot the 5 round group, then ran the 3 rounds in 3 seconds drill (because I didn’t have 5 left). The gun recoils about like a .22 Ruger LCP and is smaller. It does have 3 less rounds in it and is a little harder to get your hand on. The trigger is long but relatively smooth and light.

I installed a Techna-clip, painted the front sight, and adjusted the rear sight (Top secret method detailed below). I tested some Fiocchi 73gr FMJ and some Remington 71gr FMJ. The Fiocchi has been widely recommended as a decent carry load. European loadings are generally hotter than equivalent US loadings…until now.

Fiocchi 73gr FMJ averaged 807.8 fps with an extreme spread of 30. Remington 71gr FMJ averaged 890.5 fps with an extreme spread of 53.7. I could not tell a difference in accuracy, though I did not shoot any more rested groups with the gun.

The Remington load has noticeably more recoil but I did not find it to slow me down to any appreciable degree compared to the slightly lower velocity Fiocchi. I have the Remington load in the gun, right now, but would not feel any more under-armed than normal with the P32 if I had the Fiocchi load in it.

I ran the gun with my grip halfway down the frame with left and right hands as if I had gotten a bad grip. I held the gun loosely in either hand. I also pushed the muzzle into the “suspect” and pulled it back to fire to insure it would go back into battery and work correctly if that was done inadvertently in a close range encounter.

Check out pistoltraining.com where Simon ran one for over 2000 rounds. My gun has seen but 200 rounds, all through the same magazine. It is the only gun that I routinely run by loading it and then not topping up the magazine, though I have yet to have a stoppage when running it topped up in practice.

As I said earlier, this is not a gun I carry because I don’t want to carry something else. This is a gun I carry because I can’t carry anything else. I do not know of anything in this size format with the reliability of the Kel-Tec P32.